Hybrid organic–inorganic
lead halide perovskites have emerged
as promising materials for various applications, including solar cells,
light-emitting devices, dielectrics, and optical switches. In this
work, we report the synthesis, crystal structures, and linear and
nonlinear optical as well as dielectric properties of three imidazolium
lead bromides, IMPbBr
3
, IM
2
PbBr
4
,
and IM
3
PbBr
5
(IM
+
= imidazolium).
We show that these compounds exhibit three distinct structure types.
IMPbBr
3
crystallizes in the 4H-hexagonal perovskite structure
with face- and corner-shared PbBr
6
octahedra (space group
P
6
3
/
mmc
at 295 K), IM
2
PbBr
4
adopts a one-dimensional (1D) double-chain structure
with edge-shared octahedra (space group
P
1̅
at 295 K), while IM
3
PbBr
5
crystallizes in the
1D single-chain structure with corner-shared PbBr
6
octahedra
(space group
P
1̅ at 295 K). All compounds exhibit
two structural phase transitions, and the lowest temperature phases
of IMPbBr
3
and IM
3
PbBr
5
are noncentrosymmetric
(space groups
Pna
2
1
at 190 K and
P
1 at 100 K, respectively), as confirmed by measurements
of second-harmonic generation (SHG) activity. X-ray diffraction and
thermal and Raman studies demonstrate that the phase transitions feature
an order–disorder mechanism. The only exception is the isostructural
P
1̅ to
P
1̅ phase transition
at 141 K in IM
2
PbBr
4
, which is of a displacive
type. Dielectric studies reveal that IMPbBr
3
is a switchable
dielectric material, whereas IM
3
PbBr
5
is an
improper ferroelectric. All compounds exhibit broadband, highly shifted
Stokes emissions. Features of these emissions,
i.e.
, band gap and excitonic absorption, are discussed in relation to
the different structures of each composition.